re = /\b(CARBON\b|IRON\b|ZINC\b|\d+(?:\.\d+)?(?:%|\b))|\S/m
str = 'CARBON 1569
1.00% IRON 234
99% CARBON, 1% IRON 181
98.2% CARBON 1% ZINC 181
99% CARBON#1% IRON 141
ASD CARBON 2% IRON RANDOMWORD 23'
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