Used in biochemical research for studying glycosidase enzymes and carbohydrate metabolism pathways. Serves as a precursor in the synthesis of thioglycosides, which are important in developing glycosylation methods for drug design. Applied in the preparation of modified oligosaccharides to investigate cell surface interactions and immune responses. Also utilized in enzymatic assays to probe the mechanism of mannosidases due to its structural similarity to natural substrates with enhanced stability.