const regex = /('[^']*?(?:\\'[^']*?)*'|[^\s]+)/gi;
// Alternative syntax using RegExp constructor
// const regex = new RegExp('(\'[^\']*?(?:\\\\\'[^\']*?)*\'|[^\\s]+)', 'gi')
const str = `Discerning between 'the single quote\\'s double purpose' as a 'quote marker', like ", and a 'a cotraction\\'s marker.'.
If you asked the author and he was speaking in the third person, he would say 'CFQueryParam\\'s example is contrived, and he knew that but he had the world\\'s most difficult time thinking up an example.'`;
const subst = `**\`$1\`**,`;
// The substituted value will be contained in the result variable
const result = str.replace(regex, subst);
console.log('Substitution result: ', 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 JavaScript, please visit: https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Regular_Expressions