my @out = split(\s(AND|OR)\s/i,$string);

##</code><code>##

my @out = split(/\s(AND|OR)\s/i,$string);

##</code><code>##

#!/usr/bin/perl -wT
use strict;

my $string = "something and something else or this thing here";
my $new    = join(' ',
             map {/^(and|or)$/ ? uc($_) : "tools.description LIKE \"%$_%\""}
             split(/\s*\b(and|or)\b\s*/,$string));
print "S:$string\n";
print "N:$new\n";

=OUTPUT
S:something and something else or this thing here
N:tools.description LIKE "%something%" AND tools.description LIKE "%something else%" OR tools.description LIKE "%this thing here%"