Used in the synthesis of pharmaceutical intermediates, particularly in the development of kinase inhibitors and other biologically active compounds. Its nitrile group enables selective chemical modifications, making it valuable in medicinal chemistry for structure-activity relationship studies. Also employed as a non-natural amino acid in peptide engineering to enhance metabolic stability and alter conformational properties of peptides. Widely applied in research settings for labeling and probing protein interactions due to its unique spectroscopic characteristics.