Used as an intermediate in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, particularly in the preparation of purine-based drugs such as antiviral and anticancer agents. It serves as a building block for modifying the purine scaffold to develop biologically active compounds. Commonly employed in medicinal chemistry for nucleoside analog development, where selective substitution at the 2-position enhances target specificity and metabolic stability. Also utilized in research settings for labeling and probing nucleic acid interactions.