Used as a chiral building block in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, particularly in the development of protease inhibitors and other bioactive molecules. Its stereochemistry allows for selective reactions in asymmetric synthesis, making it valuable in drug discovery. Commonly employed in solid-phase peptide synthesis due to the fluorenylmethyl group, which can be easily removed under mild basic conditions to enable stepwise assembly of complex peptides. Also utilized in the preparation of enzyme inhibitors where the hydroxyproline-like structure plays a key role in mimicking natural substrates.