2-Bromobenzonitrile belongs to a group of ortho-substituted bromobenzenes that have varying hepatotoxicity effects in the presence of rat liver microsomes in vitro. 2-Bromobenzonitrile is also used as a starting material to synthesize novel benzothiophene derivatives that were found to exhibit antibacterial and antifungal activity. It is commonly employed in reactions that require an electron-rich species to carry out nucleophilic substitution (or addition) reactions.