Used in pharmaceutical research as a deuterated analog for metabolic stability studies, this compound helps improve the pharmacokinetic profile of lead drugs by resisting oxidative degradation. Its deuterated ethylamine group slows down enzymatic breakdown, extending half-life in vivo. Commonly applied in the development of CNS-targeted therapeutics due to its structural similarity to neurotransmitter precursors. Also employed as an internal standard in mass spectrometry for quantifying amine-containing compounds in biological matrices.