Used as an intermediate in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and functionalized polymers, particularly in the preparation of imidazole-based compounds with biological activity. It serves as a protecting group reagent in nucleoside and nucleotide chemistry due to the trityl group's stability and ease of removal under mild acidic conditions. The chloromethyl functionality allows for further alkylation or cross-linking reactions, making it valuable in the development of resins, ligands, and specialty chemicals for organic and medicinal chemistry applications.