Used in biochemical research as a chiral building block for synthesizing peptide-based inhibitors and enzyme substrates. Its amine and carboxylic acid groups make it suitable for peptide synthesis, particularly in developing neuroactive compounds and metabolic pathway probes. Commonly employed in studies involving glutamate analogs and neurotransmitter regulation due to structural similarity to endogenous amino acids involved in neural signaling. Also applied in the preparation of affinity ligands for receptor binding assays targeting NMDA and metabotropic glutamate receptors.