$re = '/(^|[^a-z])\((\d*|[a-z])\)/m';
$str = '(x+2)/(x) -> only select ( ) in (x)
-(2)+. -> only select ( ) in (2)
(wsd). -> select nothing
(x)^2+2 -> only select ( ) in (x)
sin(x). -> select nothing
(22313)a. -> only select ( ) in (22313)
+23-3()/(3x)+(x). -> only select () in () and ( ) in (x)
sin(x)+3*x^2+(x)+23 -> only select ( ) in (x)';
$subst = "$1$2";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$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 PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php