4-Hydroxy-3-(hydroxymethyl)benzaldehyde is an impurity of Albuterol (A514501) which is a β2-adrenoceptor agonist, a bronchodilator and a tocolytic. 4-Hydroxy-3-(hydroxymethyl)benzaldehyde is also used in the preparation of Cinnamyl alcohol-like compounds which can be used for treatment of free radical generated related diseases inlcuding auto-immunodeficiency diseases. It is also used as a reagent in the synthesis of 5-Diacetoxymethyl-cycloSal-d4TMP which is a prototype of enzymatically activated cycloSal-pronucleotides that may possess antiviral activities against HIV.