Used primarily as an intermediate in the synthesis of pharmaceutical compounds, particularly in the development of antimalarial and anticancer agents. Its halogenated quinoline structure allows for selective cross-coupling reactions, making it valuable in medicinal chemistry for building complex drug molecules. It also serves as a building block in the preparation of kinase inhibitors and other biologically active heterocycles. Due to the presence of reactive sites, it enables functionalization for structure-activity relationship studies in drug discovery.