Three new molecular cages-a trigonal prism (2) and two cubic-shaped boxes of increasing size (3, 4)-featuring as many as 10 porphyrins were obtained in quantitative yields by self-assembly of a single bis-zincporphyrin metallacycle (1) with appropriate polytopic N-linkers: the trigonal planar tpt or the cruciform porphyrins 4'-TPyP and 4'-TPhPyP.
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