You also need `InputForm` if you want to convert \\[Pi] to Pi If you want parentheses 2 \[Pi]/5 // ToString[#, InputForm] & // StringReplace[#, "/" :> "--"] & > "(2*Pi)--5" Else 2 \[Pi]/5 // ToString[#, InputForm] & // StringReplace[#, {"/" :> "--", "(" :> "", ")" :> ""}] & > "2*Pi--5"