Used as a chelating agent in various industrial and laboratory applications. It binds metal ions effectively, making it useful in water treatment to remove heavy metals and prevent scale formation. Commonly employed in buffer solutions for biochemical and molecular biology experiments, especially in protein purification and enzyme assays. Also serves as a building block in the synthesis of specialty resins and polymers. Its ability to stabilize metal ions enhances performance in detergents and cleaning formulations. Widely used in chromatography as a functional group in immobilized metal affinity columns for separating proteins and peptides.