Used as a chiral building block in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, particularly in developing enzyme inhibitors and neuroactive compounds. Its trifluoromethyl group enhances metabolic stability and membrane permeability, making it valuable in medicinal chemistry for optimizing drug candidates. Also employed in the preparation of peptidomimetics and as a structural probe in biochemical studies due to its fluorine-containing moiety, which can be leveraged in 19F NMR spectroscopy.