re = /^\(([\da-z])\)/m
str = 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
(1)consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt
(2)ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip
(a) ex ea (commodo consequat). Duis aute irure dolor in (reprehenderit) in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu
(b) fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.'
subst = '\\1. '
result = str.gsub(re, subst)
# Print the result of the substitution
puts result
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html