Used as a chiral building block in the synthesis of pharmaceutical intermediates, particularly in the development of fluorinated analogs of amino acid-based drugs. Its trifluorinated aromatic structure enhances metabolic stability and membrane permeability, making it valuable in medicinal chemistry for designing enzyme inhibitors and receptor ligands. Commonly employed in asymmetric synthesis to introduce stereochemical control in active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Also utilized in research for peptide mimetics where fluorination modulates biological activity and binding affinity.