Department of Chemistry

portrait of Professor David Spring

Professor David Spring

Trinity College

Groups: Spring group website

Telephone: 01223 336498

E-mail: spring@ch.cam.ac.uk

Our research interests originate from a desire to understand and exploit biological systems using organic synthesis primarily. Listed below are areas of research that we are exploring; for more detailed information visit the Spring Group web pages.

• Diversity-Oriented Synthesis
• Synthetic Methodology: Medium Ring Synthesis and Natural Product Synthesis
• Quorum Sensing
• New Antibiotic Discovery
• Modulation of Protein-Protein Interactions
• Molecular Therapeutics: Chemistry-Driven Drug Discovery

We collaborate with many chemical companies and academic groups around the world. The scientific education of group members in organic synthesis is given a high priority; however, they are encouraged also to learn and perform new techniques relating to their projects with our industrial and academic collaborators. Every effort is made so that group members achieve their career ambitions, usually jobs in academia or the chemical industries.

Selected Publications

For our most recent publications please visit the Spring Group publication page.

Diversity-Oriented Synthesis of Macrocyclic Peptidomimetics. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2011108, 6793-6798.
Better leads come from diversity. Nature 2011470, 43.
Novel and Efficient Copper-Catalysed Synthesis of Nitrogen-Linked Medium-Ring Biaryls. Chem. Eur. J. 201117, 2981-2986.
Chemical Genetics. Chem. Soc. Rev. 201140, 4332-4345.
Diversity-oriented synthesis as a tool for the discovery of novel biologically functional small molecules. Nature Commun. 20101, 80.
Zn2+-Triggered Amide Tautomerization Produces a Highly Zn2+-Selective, Cell-Permeable and Ratiometric Fluorescent Sensor. JACS 2010, 132, 601-610.
Diversity-oriented synthesis of bicyclic and tricyclic alkaloids. Chem. Commun. 201046, 776-778.
The molecular basis of the host response to lipopolysaccharide. Nature Rev. Microbio. 2010, 8, 8-14.
3D small-molecule microarrays. Chem. Commun. 2009, 7107-7109.
Mastering the Chemical Language of Bacteria. Chem. Biol. 2009, 16, 913-914.
The discovery of antibacterial agents using diversity oriented synthesis. Chem. Commun. 2009, 2446-2462.
Synthesis of Unprecedented Scaffold Diversity. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2009, 48, 1194-1196.
Towards quorum-quenching catalytic antibodies. Chem. Commun. 2009, 538-540.
Total Synthesis of Sanguiin H-5. Org. Lett. 2008, 10, 2593-2596.
Anti-MRSA Agent Discovery Using Diversity-Oriented Synthesis. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 2808-2812.

 


General


 

For more detailed information please visit the Spring Group web pages.

Research Interests


 

For more detailed information please visit the Spring Group research pages.

Teaching


 

If you are looking for the teaching material from my lecture courses, then please go to the CamTools website.

Personal


 

For more detailed information please visit here.

Publications

 

For a list of all our publications please visit the Spring Group publication page.

Publications

Surface swarming motility by Pectobacterium atrosepticum is a latent phenotype that requires O antigen and is regulated by quorum sensing.
SD Bowden, N Hale, JC Chung, JT Hodgkinson, DR Spring, M Welch - Microbiology (2013)
(DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.070748-0)
Combating Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria: Current Strategies for the Discovery of Novel Antibacterials.
KMG O'Connell, JT Hodgkinson, HF Sore, M Welch, GPC Salmond, DR Spring - Angew Chem Int Ed Engl (2013), n/a
(DOI: 10.1002/anie.201209979)
A strategy for the diversity-oriented synthesis of macrocyclic scaffolds using multidimensional coupling
HSG Beckmann, F Nie, CE Hagerman, H Johansson, YS Tan, D Wilcke, DR Spring - Nature Chemistry (2013)
(DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1729)
Virulence in Pectobacterium atrosepticum is regulated by a coincidence circuit involving quorum sensing and the stress alarmone, (p)ppGpp.
SD Bowden, A Eyres, JC Chung, RE Monson, A Thompson, GP Salmond, DR Spring, M Welch - Mol Microbiol (2013), n/a
(DOI: 10.1111/mmi.12369)
Ligand binding kinetics of the quorum sensing regulator PqsR
M Welch, JT Hodgkinson, J Gross, DR Spring, T Sams - Biochemistry (2013) 52, 4433
(DOI: 10.1021/bi400315s)
Mild and efficient synthesis of benzo-fused seven- and eight-membered ring lactams: A convenient approach to biologically interesting chemotypes
JL Kenwright, WRJD Galloway, L Wortmann, DR Spring - Synthetic Communications (2013) 43, 1508
(DOI: 10.1080/00397911.2011.643439)
A lysosome-targetable fluorescent probe for imaging hydrogen sulfide in living cells
T Liu, Z Xu, DR Spring, J Cui - Organic Letters (2013) 15, 2310
(DOI: 10.1021/ol400973v)
Dynamic Combinatorial Chemistry with Novel Dithiol Building Blocks: Towards New Structurally Diverse and Adaptive Screening Collections
TM Postma, WRJD Galloway, FBL Cougnon, GD Pantoş, JE Stokes, DR Spring - Synlett (2013) 24, 765
(DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1318407)
Inhibition of the production of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence factor pyocyanin in wild-type cells by quorum sensing autoinducer-mimics
B Morkunas, WRJD Galloway, M Wright, BM Ibbeson, JT Hodgkinson, KMG O'Connell, N Bartolucci, MD Valle, M Welch, DR Spring - Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry (2012) 10, 8452
(DOI: 10.1039/c2ob26501j)
A two-directional strategy for the diversity-oriented synthesis of macrocyclic scaffolds.
KMG O'Connell, HSG Beckmann, L Laraia, HT Horsley, A Bender, AR Venkitaraman, DR Spring - Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry (2012) 10, 7545
(DOI: 10.1039/c2ob26272j)
Using ligand-mapping simulations to design a ligand selectively targeting a cryptic surface pocket of polo-like kinase 1
YS Tan, P Śledź, S Lang, CJ Stubbs, DR Spring, C Abell, RB Best - Angew Chem Int Ed Engl (2012) 51, 10078
(DOI: 10.1002/anie.201205676)
Applications of small molecule activators and inhibitors of quorum sensing in Gram-negative bacteria.
WRJD Galloway, JT Hodgkinson, S Bowden, M Welch, DR Spring - Trends in Microbiology (2012) 20, 449
(DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2012.06.003)
Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of non-natural modulators of quorum sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
JT Hodgkinson, WRJD Galloway, M Wright, IK Mati, RL Nicholson, M Welch, DR Spring - Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry (2012) 10, 6032
(DOI: 10.1039/c2ob25198a)
Palladium-Catalysed Cross-Coupling of Vinyldisiloxanes with Benzylic and Allylic Halides and Sulfonates
EC Frye, CJ O'Connor, DG Twigg, B Elbert, L Laraia, DG Hulcoop, AR Venkitaraman, DR Spring - Chemistry (2012) 18, 8774
(DOI: 10.1002/chem.201200431)
Diversity-oriented synthesis: producing chemical tools for dissecting biology.
CJ O' Connor, HS Beckmann, DR Spring - Chemical Society reviews (2012) 41, 4444
(DOI: 10.1039/c2cs35023h)
The effect of humidity on the ozonolysis of unsaturated compounds in aerosol particles
JWL Lee, V Carrascón, PJ Gallimore, SJ Fuller, A Björkegren, DR Spring, FD Pope, M Kalberer - Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (2012) 14, 8023
(DOI: 10.1039/c2cp24094g)
Two-directional synthesis as a tool for diversityoriented synthesis: Synthesis of alkaloid scaffolds
KMG O'Connell, M Díaz-Gavilán, WRJD Galloway, DR Spring - Beilstein J Org Chem (2012) 8, 850
(DOI: 10.3762/bjoc.8.95)
Microwave-assisted preparation of the quorum-sensing molecule 2-heptyl-3-hydroxy-4(1H)-quinolone and structurally related analogs.
JT Hodgkinson, WR Galloway, M Welch, DR Spring - Nature protocols (2012) 7, 1184
(DOI: 10.1038/nprot.2012.054)
Coumarin-derived transformable fluorescent sensor for Zn 2+
Z Xu, X Liu, J Pan, DR Spring - Chemical Communications (2012) 48, 4764
(DOI: 10.1039/c2cc30963g)
Synthesis and biological profiling of tellimagrandin I and analogues reveals that the medium ring can significantly modulate biological activity
SJ Zheng, L Laraia, CJO Connor, D Sorrell, YS Tan, ZC Xu, AR Venkitaraman, WJ Wu, DR Spring - Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry (2012) 10, 2590
(DOI: 10.1039/c2ob25065a)
A concise total synthesis of deoxyschizandrin and exploration of its antiproliferative effects and those of structurally related derivatives
SJ Zheng, SJ Aves, L Laraia, WRJD Galloway, KG Pike, WJ Wu, DR Spring - Chemistry (2012) 18, 3193
(DOI: 10.1002/chem.201103530)
Palladium-catalysed cross-coupling of organosilicon reagents
HF Sore, WRJD Galloway, DR Spring - Chemical Society Reviews (2012) 41, 1845
(DOI: 10.1039/c1cs15181a)
Synthesis of Highly Substituted Symmetrical 1,3-Dienes via Organocuprate Oxidation
SJ Aves, KMG O'Connell, KG Pike, DR Spring - Synlett (2012) 2012, 298
(DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1290116)
Synthesis and biological profiling of tellimagrandin I and analogues reveals that the medium ring can significantly modulate biological activity
S Zheng, L Laraia, CJ O'Connor, D Sorrell, YS Tan, Z Xu, AR Venkitaraman, W Wu, DR Spring - Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry (2012) 10, 2590
Novel Phosphate Derivatives as Scaffolds for the Preparation of Synthetic Phosphoserine-Based Peptides Using the Fmoc/t-Bu Solid-Phase Strategy
A Cilibrizzi, A Isidro-Llobet, N Mateu, WRJD Galloway, DR Spring - Synlett (2012) 2012, 290
(DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1290119)

Funding


Funding 

 

We are extremely fortunate, and grateful, that this research is funded by research councils (A*Star, BBSRC, DAAD, EPSRC, ERC, EU, MRC), charities (CRUK, Cambridge Trusts, Frances and Augustus Newman Foundation, Isaac Newton Trust, Wellcome Trust) and industry (AZ, Bayer Schering, GSK, Lilly, Pfizer, Syngenta, UCB).

CV

CV 

 

For more detailed information please visit here.