Self-assembly of 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-pyridyl)porphyrin (tpp-H-2) tetradentate panels with dinuclear arene ruthenium clips [Ru-2(eta(6)-arene)(2)(dhbq)Cl-2] (arene = C6H5Me, p-(PrC6H4Me)-C-i, C6Me6; dhbq = 2,5-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoquinonato) affords the cationic organometallic boxes [Ru-8(eta(6)-C6H5Me)(8)(tpp-H-2)(2)(dhbq)(4)](8+) ([1](8+)), [Ru-8(eta(6)-p-(PrC6H4Me)-C-i)(8)(tpp-H-2)(2)(dhbq)(4)](8+) ([2](8+)) and [Ru-8(eta(6)-C6Me6)(8)(tpp-H-2)(2)(dhbq)(4)](8+) ([3](8+)). These octanuclear cations have been isolated as their triflate salts and characterised by mass spectrometry, NMR and IR spectroscopy. The molecular structure of these systems was deduced by one-dimensional and two-dimensional NMR experiments (ROESY, COSY, HSQC). (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.