He never had an opportunity to use the chakra he sealed in himself before he died. The Reaper Death Seal, the one that he used on himself, requires a human sacrifice to complete the seal. This means that once the seal is done, Minato lost his soul.
He had probably researched the Kyubi before he died (since his wife was a Jinchuriki). I also think that he had always planned to seal Kurama in Naruto (after seeing Bee), so he likely had an idea of what could have been done with the chakra. However, he likely only figured out how to use KCM after seeing Naruto in action.