Used in bioorthogonal chemistry for labeling and imaging biomolecules in living systems. The azide group enables click chemistry reactions, particularly copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC), allowing selective conjugation with alkyne-bearing probes such as fluorophores or biotin. Serves as a metabolic label for glycoconjugates due to its sugar backbone, facilitating the study of glycosylation processes in cells. Applied in glycobiology research to track and visualize newly synthesized glycoproteins and glycolipids without disrupting natural biological functions.