Used in the synthesis of glycosidase inhibitors, which play a role in the development of drugs for diabetes and viral infections. Serves as a building block in carbohydrate-based drug design due to its aldehyde functional group that allows for further chemical modifications. Applied in research for creating fluorescent probes to study enzyme activity and cellular processes involving glycosidic bond cleavage. Also utilized in the preparation of glycoconjugates for immunological studies and vaccine development.