An iron chelating agent with properties like edetic acid. DTPA has also been used as a chelator for other metals, such as plutonium.

alpha-Ketoglutarate is a key molecule in the TCA cycle. It can be produced from glutamate by oxidative deamination via glutamate dehydrogenase and as a product of pyridoxal phosphate-dependent transamination reactions (mediated by branched-chain amino acid transaminases) in which glutamate is a common amino donor.

(1R,2R)-2-PCCA hydrochloride is a potent, selective, and blood-brain-barrier-crossing GPR88 receptor agonist with an EC50 value of 1140 n in striatal membranes of WT mice; it can be used to study the central nervous system.