use strict;
my $str = '(IUPAC: Disilver sulfide)
Acanthite (Y: 1855) 02.BA.35 [18] [19] [20]
(IUPAC: Disilver sulfide)
Acetamide (1974-039) 10.AA.20 [21] [22] [23]
(IUPAC: Acetic acid amide)
Achalaite (2013-103) 04.?? [24] [no] [no]
Achavalite (Y: 1939';
my $regex = qr/(?im)^(?:[^a-z].*\r?\n)*([a-z]+).*(\r?\n[^a-z].*)*/p;
my $subst = '$1';
my $result = $str =~ s/$regex/$subst/rg;
print "The result of the substitution is' $result\n";
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 Perl, please visit: http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html