Used primarily as a photoactivatable crosslinking agent in biochemical and molecular biology research. Its main application lies in photoaffinity labeling, where it enables the covalent bonding of ligands to their target proteins upon UV irradiation. This allows researchers to study protein-ligand interactions, map binding sites, and identify unknown receptor subunits. The hydroxyl group provides a convenient handle for chemical modification, making it useful in synthesizing probes and tagged molecules for affinity purification or detection. Due to its ability to generate reactive carbenes upon photolysis, it forms stable covalent bonds with nearby biomolecules, offering high spatial and temporal control in complex biological systems.