For this reaction, the T1-T2* provides a useful method to track the progress of the mechanochemical reaction via the increase of the new peaks produced from the product 1 and the formation of water. It is often more common to track the consumption of the starting materials to determine when the reaction has reached completion. With the long T1 of benzil, this was not an option, the signal pre-milling and post-milling could not be compared as desired in these types of reactions. This work illustrates the viability of this method for reactions where one of the starting materials has a T1 that cannot readily be measured, but the T1 of the products can be.