Used in pharmaceutical research as a key intermediate in the synthesis of kinase inhibitors, particularly for targeted cancer therapies. Its structure supports the development of compounds with high selectivity toward specific signaling pathways involved in tumor growth. Also explored in the design of anti-inflammatory agents due to its ability to modulate cellular responses. The nitrile group allows for further functionalization, enabling the creation of diverse derivatives for structure-activity relationship studies. Commonly employed in medicinal chemistry for optimizing drug candidates with improved metabolic stability and binding affinity.