$re = '/(?<!\\\\)([$]+)([^$]*?)\\\\([^$]*?[^\\\\])\1/m';
$str = 'some \\\\ random text $ 5\\\\ 6$
some $5x^2 \\$ random text $$ 5 \\\\ 6$$';
$subst = "\1\2\\\\\\\\\3\1";
$result = preg_replace($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