Used as an intermediate in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, particularly in the development of central nervous system agents and analgesics. Its structure provides a rigid cyclohexane backbone with functional groups that allow for selective modifications, making it valuable in medicinal chemistry for optimizing drug potency and selectivity. Commonly employed in the preparation of opioid receptor ligands and other bioactive molecules where stereochemistry plays a critical role in activity. Also utilized in the design of conformationally restricted analogs to study structure-activity relationships.