2′-Fluoro-substituted DNA-induced self-assembly strategy for engineering hybrid nanospheres

•Expounding and exploring the novel physicochemical property of 2′-fluoro-substituted DNA (2‘F-DNA).•Discovering the F atom can facilitate the transformation of the stacked conformation of DNA into a more flexible state, thereby exposing abundant binding sites and improving the self-assembly ability of 2′F-DNA.•Direct self-assembly of 2′F-DNA and multiple small molecules can be achieved without the need for additional carriers.•A straightforward and universal approach is presented to facilitate the design and construction of DNA nanostructures.