Used as a chiral building block in pharmaceutical synthesis for various therapeutic areas, including diabetes treatment with DPP-4 inhibitors such as sitagliptin and vildagliptin, as well as drugs targeting neurological and psychiatric disorders. Its (3R,4R) configuration with two asymmetric centers enhances target specificity, selectivity, and metabolic stability of bioactive molecules. Commonly employed in the preparation of protease inhibitors and receptor modulators due to its favorable stereochemistry and functional group arrangement. Also utilized in medicinal chemistry for structure-activity relationship studies, enabling optimization of highly specific drug candidates against proteins or enzymes.