The interactions of ethanol and methanol with ferrihemoglobin were examined using resonance Raman spectroscopy. After binding either alcohol, the low-frequency resonance Raman spectra of human ferrihemoglobin are almost identical to the unperturbed spectrum except for shifts in the 309 cm - 1 band to higher frequency by as much as 8 cm - 1 . The ethanol-induced shift is greater than that with methanol even though complex formation was less for ethanol than methanol. The spectral changes imply a site-specific, similar binding of these alcohols to ferrihemoglobin which may involve steric interactions. Possible assignments of the 309 cm - 1 band to structural features as well as potential mechanisms of the alcohol-induced spectral changes are discussed.