Used as a building block in organic synthesis, particularly in the preparation of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals. As a meso (achiral) epoxide derived from cis-stilbene, its strained ring undergoes regioselective and stereoselective ring-opening reactions with various nucleophiles, enabling the formation of complex molecules with defined stereochemistry, especially when employing chiral catalysts or enzymes. It is valuable in stereoselective synthesis for the development of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and natural product analogs. Also widely utilized in research settings for studying stereospecific reaction mechanisms, enzyme-catalyzed transformations such as epoxide hydrolase activity, and as a model substrate for investigating regioselectivity in nucleophilic additions.