It generally used as a size-regulating capping agent for nanocrystals. 1-Thioglycerol is also used in bacteriology experiments to induce the synthesis of porphyrin compounds in aerobically growing Escherichia coli. Also used to study the pH-sensitive photoluminescence of aqueous thiol-capped CdTe nanocrystals. 1-Thioglycerol is used to develop and test thiol functionalized copolymers. 1-Thioglycerol is used as a post-modification agent in the generation of non-standard peptide foldamers.Potential substitute for 2-mercaptoethanol, probe for the study of lymphocyte activation.