Used in pharmaceutical formulations as an intermediate in the synthesis of bioactive molecules, particularly in antibiotics and antiviral agents. Its stereochemistry makes it valuable in chiral synthesis for producing enantiomerically pure drugs. Also employed in the development of glycosidase inhibitors due to structural similarity to sugar alcohols. Finds use in research settings for studying enzyme mechanisms and designing enzyme mimics. Additionally, it serves as a building block in the preparation of complex natural product analogs and in medicinal chemistry for structure-activity relationship studies.